SANTA FE — Republican Gov. Susana Martinez spoke of togetherness and common ground Tuesday in her State of the State speech, but the Legislature's most powerful Democrat said many of her specific proposals were unpalatable.

The quick and mostly negative response from Sen. Majority Leader Michael Sanchez could mean a 60-day legislative session of gridlock on high-profile issues such as education reform, tax reductions for corporations and Martinez's push to repeal a law that enables illegal immigrants to obtain New Mexico driver's licenses.

Martinez's call for state-ordered retention of third-graders who read poorly was again a centerpiece of her proposed education reforms. She said she agreed with the Obama administration on this issue, citing U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan as a voice of reason.

She quoted Duncan as saying, "If your students keep being allowed to leave third and fourth grade without being able to read, you're not doing them any favors."

Martinez said many compromises had been made to bills for mandatory retention, including more money to pinpoint kids struggling to read before they reach third grade.

"So," she said, "let's stand together and pass this bill."

Sanchez, who said he was designated to speak on behalf of Democrats in the House of Representatives as well as the Senate, criticized Martinez for using schools as "props" and said she did not have a good understanding of what happens in classrooms.

"It's one thing to do a photo op at a school. .

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.. Go to the school and teach a class of 30," he said.

Sanchez said cuts in education funding had left many schools with crowded classrooms and overburdened teachers. He said he was glad that Martinez wanted to restore some funding this year — she proposes an increase of $101 million for public schools — but Sanchez called her retention plan wrongheaded.

He said it would eliminate parents from the decision making, and it would continue failed strategies of teaching to standardized tests, not to students.

Education was the single-largest topic in Martinez's 40-minute speech.

She wants $4.7 million to help the lowest-performing schools, and $13.3 million for a reading program to help younger students. That would be an increase of about $5 million from this year.

Martinez singled out Anthony Elementary School near the Mexican border for its success in being ranked fifth in the state academically, even though "nearly all of the students come from low-income families and speak English as a second language."

She also lauded the Bridge Program in Las Cruces for helping improve the graduation rate in that school district by about 20 percentage points in four years. The program enables high school students to simultaneously earn a two-year college degree.

Though no Democrat criticized the Bridge Program, one said Martinez's effusive praise of it showed she was out of touch on education practices.

"Other programs exactly like that were in place long before she got here. Albuquerque has the same exact program," said Sen. Howie Morales, D-Silver City.

For business competitiveness, Martinez is proposing a cut in the corporate tax rate from 7.6 percent to 4.9 percent over three years. Martinez said Arizona went to a 4.9 percent rate, and New Mexico needed to respond to attract and retain businesses.

Democrats said her proposal actually could put state-based corporations and smaller businesses at a tax disadvantage. Tax loopholes allow large corporations with headquarters elsewhere to divert revenues and pay less in state taxes, said Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe.

Martinez also wants a bill to protect manufacturers and suppliers at Spaceport New Mexico from negligence lawsuits if space travelers died in a crash.

Martinez said taxpayers have spent $209 million on the Spaceport, and that New Mexico had already lost a company called XCOR Aerospace to Texas because the bill to restrict lawsuits failed last year.

On crime and punishment, Martinez said the state should enact stiffer penalties for repeat drunken drivers.

"if a drunk driver doesn't get the message after a first conviction, we should seize their vehicle — their deadly weapon — the second time around," she said.

She also advocated for a law to force the immediate resignation of a public official convicted of corruption. Legislators last year, including Republican Rep. Zach Cook of Ruidoso, tried to tackle such a bill, but ran into snags because guilty pleas can be withdrawn.

Martinez also will try again to repeal the 2003 law in which illegal immigrants with specific identification documents can obtain New Mexico driver's licenses. She said the state should "stop being a magnet for human trafficking, fraud and crime rings" that she attributed to the driver's license law.

Sanchez said driver's licenses were a wedge issue intended to divide people, not an important policy question. He also said former Rep. Andy Nunez, an independent from Hatch who sponsored a repeal bill, was ready to compromise with Democrats last year but Martinez would not.

Speaking for the Democrats' caucuses, Sanchez said jobs programs would be their focus.

By the time the 60-day session ends, 700 more New Mexico residents could be unemployed because of the recession's grip, Sanchez said. Action on jobs has to occur now, he said.

He criticized Martinez for stalling certain legislative efforts to revive the economy. Sanchez said lawmakers were "frustrated by the governor last year" when she vetoed 190 public works projects approved by a bipartisan committee.

But Martinez has said that such projects should be aimed at big-picture improvements that will help the most people. The ones she stopped were not in the best interest of taxpayers, she said.

Sanchez also said Martinez had held back $5 million that the Legislature allocated for a drug and alcohol treatment center in his home county of Valencia. She did not veto the bill, but no action on bonds to finance the project meant no help for people addicted to meth, alcohol or other substances, he said.

Sanchez said programs that rehabilitate addicts and keep them out of prison ought to be embraced, not shelved.

Martinez ended her speech by saying she did not expect legislators to see eye to eye with her on each of her ideas.

"While we won't agree on every issue, and while we will have spirited debates, I know we can come together and find common ground," she said.

Sanchez said there need not be any debate on issues such as the driver's license repeal. The existing law is fine, he said, but Martinez's attempts to keep it in play distract from the important job of putting people to work and making sure schools are adequately funded.

Milan Simonich, Santa Fe bureau chief of Texas-New Mexico Newspapers, can be reached at 505-820-6898. His blog is at nmcapitolreport.com

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